Twin Cities attorney Jill Clark suspended over mental health problems

The Minnesota Supreme Court temporarily suspended, for reasons of mental illness, a Twin Cities attorney who ran for chief justice of the court last year.

Jill Clark, who was defending herself from a petition by the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility, was suspended by the court in a ruling Wednesday, Jan. 16.

Clark was hospitalized before a June hearing, and her husband asked the court-appointed referee conducting the hearing to postpone it. The referee recommended that Clark be transferred to inactive status because of a disability, "until Clark was no longer disabled and was able to assist in her defense."

The referee then filed a finding in December that Clark was "disabled based on serious mental health issues she experienced during 2012" and could not competently represent clients, but could represent herself.

The original disciplinary hearing sought by the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility was stayed.

The suspension order says Clark has up to 60 days to file a brief in reply to the referee's finding.

According to court documents, Clark told the referee she was "experiencing debilitating physical and neurological symptoms" that began after a car accident in March 2011.

Clark said that by mid-June 2012, "she began to suffer from 'extreme symptoms,' which impacted her ability to eat and sleep, her mental state, her memory and her ability to process information," according to the documents.

Clark also stated that her condition "had gone undiagnosed for months, but that she had received a diagnosis and had begun taking medication," according to the documents.